Tucows Opens Up “Sunrise” Pre-registrations for .us

Toronto, Canada, February 28, 2002 – Tucows Inc. (OTCBB: TCOW), a leading provider of Internet services to ISPs and web hosting companies, announced that “Sunrise” pre-registrations begin today, Thursday, February 28, 2002, for .US, the country code top-level domain (TLD) for the United States. Pre-registration for the Sunrise Period is exclusive to owners of existing or pending U.S. trademarks and service marks. Participation in the pre-registration process does not guarantee successful registration of a domain name. Pre-registrations will be subject to random selection as well as strict application rules.
The launch of .US offers an opportunity for individuals, organizations and businesses to establish a clear American identity on the Internet. Short, simple Internet addresses (i.e. “johndoe.us,” “charity.us,” and “mycompany.us,” etc.) were not as accessible under previous .US policies.

Registration for the Sunrise Period officially begins on March 4, 2002, followed by “Registry Go Live” registration for the general public beginning April 24, 2002, according to Neustar, Inc., the registry selected by ICANN to operate the .US extension. Registration will be limited to U.S. citizens, legal residents and organizations with a “bona fide” presence in the United States.

“Our resellers have expressed very strong customer demand for this new country code top-level domain,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO, Tucows Inc. “The expansion of the .US namespace offers the opportunity to get a top-tier American identity on the Internet. Other country code TLDs like .CA and .UK have demonstrated value to regional businesses, and we anticipate .US will offer the same value to domain name registrants with American interests.”

About Tucows

Tucows Inc. is a leading provider of Internet services. An ICANN-accredited registrar, Tucows provides wholesale domain name registrations for generic and country code top-level domains (TLDs), plus web certificates. Liberty Registry Management Services Inc. (LibertyRMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tucows, provides global registry management and administration services for top-level domain name registries, including .INFO. Tucows also distributes software and other digital content through its integrated network of resellers. Tucows offers more than 30,000 software titles in libraries located around the world and operates search and reference media sites including Electric Library, Encyclopedia.com, and NewsDirectory.com. For more information, please visit: http://www.tucows.com.

This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding, for example, the continued growth and success of Tucows’ business, the introduction of new products and services and their success, the ability to further develop and achieve commercial success for the company’s business strategy, and the deployment of the company’s resources. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. More information about potential factors that could affect Tucows is included in the Risk Factors sections of Tucows filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to Tucows as of the date of this document, and Tucows assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.

TUCOWS, ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM and NEWSDIRECTORY.COM are registered trademarks of Tucows Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.